Tag: Stephen Timms

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the cost of Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Karen Bradley

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is funded through fees charged for disclosure certificates and from subscriptions to the DBS disclosure update service. DBS operates on a full cost recovery basis. There has not been a fee increase in four years and volunteers receive free checks.

The table below sets out the average time taken to process all three types of checks.

Timeframe	Standard Disclosures	Enhanced Disclosures	Enhanced Disclosures with List Checks
01st Nov 2010 to 31st Oct 2011	5.21	16.84	16.81
01st Nov 2011 to 31st Oct 2012	5.34	11.24	11.25
01st Nov 2012 to 31st Oct 2013	4.57	10.60	10.63
01st Nov 2013 to 31st Oct 2014	6.37	14.12	14.17
01st Nov 2014 to 31st Oct 2015	5.97	14.92	14.94

The fluctuations in processing times over the years relate to a number of factors, including changes in demand and demand forecasting, changes to IT systems and the performance of police forces for enhanced disclosures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends to respond to the report of the Children’s Commissioner, Protecting children from harm, published in November 2015.

Karen Bradley

The report captures the findings from the first part of the Children’s Commissioner’s inquiry into child sexual abuse in the family environment. The Government will give careful consideration to the findings of the full inquiry when it is completed in December 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 19474, in what circumstances her Department plans to recompense spousal visa applicants whose application is not determined within the eight-week postal service standard.

James Brokenshire

Generally, the Home Office will not recompense a customer whose spousal application is not considered within the eight week postal service standard.

The Home Office aims to process all straightforward applications, that is those that have complied with the application process including provision of mandatory information, evidence and biometrics, within eight weeks of receipt.

There are a variety of reasons why a spousal application may take longer than the publicised service standard. As such the Home Office service standard reflects that and does not allow for all cases to be decided within that publicised standard.

If the Home Office cannot make a decision within the service standard, the Home Office will write to customers to inform them of the next steps and when they are likely to receive a decision.

It is open to a customer to submit a complaint if their application is not considered within the service standard. These claims are considered on an ex-gratia basis under the complaints procedure. Any compensation would be handled based on individual customers’ exceptional circumstances, and as such these are considered on a case-by-case basis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his contribution of 20 June 2011, Official Report, column 52, on the Pensions Bill [Lords], that the Government would consider transitional arrangements, what transitional arrangements the Government considered.

Justin Tomlinson

The Government considered retaining the original timetable for increasing the qualifying age for Pension Credit minimum guarantee to 65 by 2020 for a temporary period, in addition to alternative timetabling options for increasing the State Pension age to lessen the impact on women facing the largest increases relative to the original timetable. The transitional arrangements brought forward by the Government capped the maximum delay at 18 months rather than two years, at a cost of £1.1 billion.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the statement in his Department’s press release of 1 November 2011, entitled Iain Duncan Smith sets out next steps for moving claimants onto universal credit, on what dates since 1 November 2011 his Department has calculated the proportion of new technology required to deliver universal credit which is complete; and what that proportion was on each of those dates.

Priti Patel

I refer my Rt. Hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 11 January 2016 UIN21335

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is provided to universal credit claimants who do not have (a) online access or (b) the capability to apply online.

Priti Patel

For those Universal Credit claimants who do not have online access, computers and free Wi-Fi are available through DWP and their delivery partners. Where claimants have limited, or no, capability to apply on-line, ‘assisted digital’ support is available alongside telephone and face to face support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants his Department estimates will have moved on to universal credit by the end of 2017.

Priti Patel

The number of people on benefits is driven by a range of factors. Because of this, the programme measures progress by the successful achievement of milestones of its delivery plan rather than targets for numbers of claimants.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups and local authorities are jointly commissioning children’s palliative care.

Ben Gummer

Clinical commissioning groups have responsibility for ensuring that they are meeting the needs of those requiring children’s palliative care services. We do not collect information on how clinical commissioning groups commission children’s palliative care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training on mental health awareness is provided to foster carers.

Edward Timpson

The statutory framework is clear that fostering services must provide carers with the training, information and support necessary in the interests of children placed with them.

The Training, Support and Development (TSD) Standards provide a national post-approval training framework for what foster carers should know and understand. This includes knowing what ‘healthy care’ means for the mental health of young people, and how children develop relationships. My Department’s expectation is that fostering services should ensure that foster carers complete the training within 12-18 months of approval. The TSD Standards form part of the National Minimum Standards for foster care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which local authorities take Frontline participants on placement; and what plans she has to expand the number of local authorities involved in the Frontline programme.

Edward Timpson

18 local authorities in the London and Greater Manchester regions are taking Frontline participants on placement as part of the 2015 Cohort, these are as follows:

Bexley

Croydon

Ealing

Enfield

Essex

Hammersmith & Fulham

Harrow

Kensington & Chelsea

Kingston

Manchester

Merton

Richmond

Salford

Southwark

Tower Hamlets

Westminster

Wigan

Windsor & Maidenhead

Frontline will expand to the North East as part of Cohort 2016. As a result, up to 29 local authorities are expected to take Frontline participants on placement; local authorities confirmed so far include:

Bexley

Ealing

Enfield

Essex

Gateshead

Hammersmith & Fulham

Harrow

Hartlepool

Havering

Hounslow

Kensington & Chelsea

Kingston

Manchester

Merton

Newham

North Tyneside

Northumberland

Oldham

Redcar

Richmond

Rochdale

Southwark

Sunderland

Tower Hamlets

Trafford

Westminster

Wigan

Windsor & Maidenhead